October 30, 2013
Multi-campus university systems across the state chose the Ex Libris discovery suite for its flexibility and best-in-class consortial support
Chicago, IL—October 30, 2013. Ex Libris® Group, a world leader in the provision of library automation solutions, is pleased to announce that the University of Montana and the Montana State University System—both multi-campus consortia—have selected the Primo® discovery and delivery solution, the SFX® OpenURL link resolver, and the bX Recommender. The Ex Libris solutions will replace Summon and 360Link from Serials Solutions at several member institutions.
As a result of adopting Primo, the public higher education network in Montana will standardize on the same advanced discovery platform. This statewide migration will enable increased collaboration between the two major organizations, which are both governed by the Montana University System Board of Regents.
The University of Montana selected Primo to unify discovery across the system’s campuses, which include the flagship campus in Missoula, the University of Montana Western, Montana Tech, and affiliated colleges. Thanks to Primo’s renowned consortial support and flexible administrative tools, the discovery service will be available on a common platform, while each campus will be able to customize the solution to its own preferences.
”One of the principal reasons for choosing Primo is our need for greater control over the discovery environment. We can ensure that the most relevant resources are presented to our campus community whether they are from our print and digital collections or e-resources,” commented Shali Zhang, Dean of Libraries at the University of Montana. ”We were also impressed with Primo’s multi-campus support which will enable us to move all University of Montana campuses and other affiliated libraries to a common platform so that our users have a consistent experience when they access our resources.”
Kenning Arlitsch, Dean of Montana State University Library, noted: ”By adopting Primo as a common platform with the University of Montana we will soon be able to offer a single point of discovery across the resources of all academic libraries in the state of Montana. At the same time we will be introducing new capabilities for our students and faculty that better align with the needs that they have today. Since we also partner with the Outreach Montana: Networked Information (OMNI) group – a consortium of public, private and tribal colleges in Montana, the ability for closer collaboration and resource sharing will benefit an even wider spectrum of users.”
Mark Triest, president of Ex Libris North America, remarked: ”I’m delighted to see both the University of Montana and the Montana State University System joining so many other academic institutions that are migrating to Primo. To see an entire state’s public higher-education network adopt Primo validates our strategy of delivering open, content neutral systems, supporting increased collaboration, and returning control of the user experience to the library.”
About University of Montana
Nestled in the heart of western Montana’s stunning natural landscape, the University of Montana enables top-tier students, educators, and researchers from across the country and around the globe to thrive. UM is located in Missoula, Montana’s second-largest city with a population of 80,000 residents. The University draws a diverse population to Missoula and helps cultivate an educated, engaged, and vibrant community. Roughly 15,000 students attend UM and Missoula College, where they receive a world-class education in a broad range of subjects that include the trades, liberal arts, graduate and postdoctoral study, and professional training. For more information, see http://www.umt.edu/.
About Montana State University
Montana State University (MSU) is a public university whose main campus is located in Bozeman, Montana, with three other institutions affiliated within the Montana State University System. Bozeman is the state’s land-grant university and primary campus in the Montana State University System. Montana State University is one of only 108 institutions – out of 4,600 – designated as “very high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 51 fields, master’s degrees in 41 fields, and doctoral degrees in 18 fields through its nine colleges. For more information see http://www.montana.edu/.
About Ex Libris
Ex Libris is a leading provider of automation solutions for academic, national, and research libraries. Offering the only comprehensive product suite for electronic, digital, and print materials, Ex Libris provides efficient, user-friendly products that serve the needs of libraries today and will facilitate their transition into the future. Ex Libris maintains an impressive customer base consisting of thousands of sites in more than 80 countries on six continents.
Dedicated to developing creative solutions in close collaboration with customers, Ex Libris enables libraries to maximize productivity and efficiency and, at the same time, greatly enhance the user experience. By empowering users to discover and obtain the information they need, libraries ensure their position as the bridge to knowledge.
